Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) and Astrotech (NASDAQ:ASTC) are both small-cap aerospace companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Analyst Ratings

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This is a summary of current ratings for Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and Astrotech, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a beta of 2.34, suggesting that its stock price is 134% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astrotech has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.8% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.1% of Astrotech shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.6% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 30.9% of Astrotech shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions beats Astrotech on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. provides mission critical products, solutions, and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Kratos Government Solutions, Unmanned Systems, and Public Safety & Security. The Kratos Government Solutions segment offers microwave electronic products, satellite communications, training systems, modular systems, and defense and rocket support services. The Unmanned Systems segment provides unmanned aerial systems, and unmanned ground and seaborne systems. The Public Safety & Security segment designs, engineers, deploys, operates, integrates, maintains, and operates security and surveillance solutions for homeland security, public safety, critical infrastructure, government, and commercial customers. The company serves national security related agencies, the department of defense, intelligence agencies, and classified agencies, as well as international government agencies and domestic and international commercial customers. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Astrotech

Astrotech Corporation operates as a science and technology development and commercialization company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Astro Scientific and Astral. The Astro Scientific segment develops, manufactures, and sells chemical analyzers for use in the airport security, military, breath analysis markets, including MMS-1000, a small and low-power desktop analyzer designed for the laboratory market; and OEM-1000, an original equipment manufacturer component that drives the MMS-1000. This segment also develops vaccines and other therapeutics. The Astral segment offers Astral Black ICE, a system targeted mainly towards the black-and-white feature film and television series digitization and restoration markets; Astral Color ICE, a standalone AI software solution that integrates into film scanners to enable color image correction and enhancement; and Astral HDR ICE, high dynamic range solution that upgrades digital and traditional films to the HDR10 standard. The company was formerly known as SPACEHAB, Inc. and changed its name to Astrotech Corporation in 2009. Astrotech Corporation was founded in 1984 is headquartered in Austin, Texas.